A Shade of Vampire 88: An Isle of Mirrors

by Forrest, Bella

  “This is incredible,” I murmured, trying to take it all in.

  Birds sang from the lush crowns, and Rothkian primates swung down from above before jumping from branch to branch to get as far away from us as possible. They couldn’t see us, but they could certainly sense us. I had a feeling I’d see many more the deeper we went in, but for now I needed to know what we were doing here.

  “This is the Feoinn Jungle?” I asked, and Anunit nodded once. “What’s the purpose of our visit?”

  “Deep in these woods, about a hundred miles northeast, there is an isolated village,” she said, gazing into the distance. “It’s home to creatures that supposedly shouldn’t even exist anymore.”

  “What sort of creatures?” Unending asked with a slight frown.

  “The Spirit Bender’s kind,” Anunit said, looking at her intently.

  I heard my own gasp, yet it sounded like it had come from somebody else. “Wait, what?”

  “Soul fae?” Unending asked, her galaxy eyes growing wider.

  Anunit nodded again. “If that’s what you call them, sure. Soul fae.”

  “That doesn’t make sense. Spirit was the last of the species,” Unending said. “Death told me—”

  “Death has been lying.” Anunit cut her off. “A bunch of them survived long after the Spirit Bender’s matrix died. Our maker had them contained and sealed off in this jungle with no contact with the outside world whatsoever. She intervened in the affairs of the universe, which is woefully unethical, of course…”

  I shook my head slowly, following Anunit’s gaze into the dark and wooded distance, imagining what that village would look like. The image in my mind’s eye reminded me of the Amazonian jungle and its isolated tribes, and I couldn’t shake it. What would it be like to live somewhere for eons and not even know there were other civilizations beyond my little patch of wildlands?

  “They were nearly extinct, don’t get me wrong,” Anunit continued. “You know Rothko’s Hermessi are vicious and unforgiving. But Death put a protective shield around their new home in the jungle, impenetrable by the elements’ wrath, with a self-contained environment designed to keep them alive and healthy. It irked the Hermessi, of course, but they couldn’t do anything about it. With time, they just looked away, focusing on the other species that came afterward. And so, the soul fae survived, albeit in small numbers. I think Death tweaked their fertility rate to keep them under control. She needs the soul fae, but she can’t let them get out of control.”

  “How so? Why would she even intervene in the course of nature? It’s the one thing she’s been so adamantly against,” Unending said, giving me an irritated look. “After her Visio speech, this really bothers me.”

  “It’s hypocritical of her, I agree,” I replied.

  “Like I said, she needs the soul fae,” Anunit repeated with a cool grin.

  “What for?” I asked.

  “Spirit’s ability is characteristic of the species. They can bend souls to their will. Any kind of souls. Reapers included. I’m thinking Death is keeping the soul fae as some sort of emergency backup plan, in case… I don’t know, she can’t control our kind anymore. When Spirit convinced Brendel to steal Thieron, I figured she’d unleash the soul fae, but she didn’t because she still had our support. I guess things weren’t dire enough to warrant the soul fae’s revelation, at least in her mind. Death has gone to great lengths to protect them, to make sure no one found out about them.”

  Unending cursed under her breath. “Not even us…”

  “Yes, well, our maker isn’t perfect. Thing is, Thieron isn’t the only item stolen from her. Spirit snatched a few things himself. Things she’d hidden in other worlds before she had them all moved into the Vault,” Anunit added. She had my full attention, but Unending was horrified.

  “Huh?” she managed.

  “He snatched some of her artifacts before they were gathered and stored inside the Vault. You know about the Vault, right?”

  Unending looked at her, then at me. “I don’t know about the Vault,” I replied, though I wasn’t sure why. This whole conversation was turning into a messy blur.

  “It’s a collection of the artifacts Death created over the centuries, long before Spirit rebelled. Objects imbued with death magic and a purpose. Some small and insignificant to most, while others could shift the balance of power in any empire. They used to be stored in various realms, for safety,” Unending explained while Anunit nodded in agreement. “About nineteen years ago, after Spirit’s demise, Death built the Vault. She ordered the Reapers to search every location she gave them and to retrieve the objects she’d hidden there, to put them in the Vault. It’s supposed to be a secure location. Remote and known to a select handful. We’re only supposed to access it with her permission, and only if she deems it necessary.”

  “That might’ve come in handy during the Visio war,” I said. Of course, I understood the timeline, but damn, it would’ve been nice to have had such artifacts handy in our fight against the Darklings and the Spirit Bender.

  “Had it existed twenty years ago, sure,” Unending said. “Most of the objects there were stored elsewhere until Death had the Reapers comb every known dimension for them. Some have been retrieved. Others are still missing, no longer where she thought they’d be. Those, apparently, were stolen by Spirit. I don’t know why Death didn’t create the Vault from the very beginning, but I reckon she didn’t expect Spirit to turn against her. Once Spirit became such a capable enemy, Death probably didn’t want to risk moving and exposing them. Maybe they were safer where she’d left them, until his demise. At least, that’s an explanation that makes sense to me—Death had already lost some objects to Spirit, so she couldn’t take a chance and lose the others, too. Once he was gone, she built the Vault and centralized everything there.” Unending looked at Anunit. “What did he take? And what was he planning to do with the artifacts?”

  “Well, I don’t know about all of them, just the one he brought here. Spirit stole it long before the Hermessi’s rebellion, before he even emerged as an adversary of Death, if I remember correctly. Spirit told me he’d left it inside the soul fae village because it was the safest place he could think of. I believe he once had the intention of using it to do a trade with Death for something else, though that never panned out. This object… He called it a Mixer,” Anunit replied. “It merges scythes together. You know he dropped a few Reapers in his time. Most of them on Visio, in fact. But he destroyed a few in other places, and he gathered their scythes in a safe place. I believe he intended to fuse them into his own weapon with the help of this Mixer, at some point. Though I’m not sure why, because he was scarily powerful already. He put Death under the Thousand Seals, after all.”

  The more she spoke, the better I understood Unending’s troubled expression. “Why didn’t he fuse them, then? Surely, it would’ve given him more power during the Hermessi wars… right?” I asked.

  “There’s a Reaper who guards the soul fae village,” Anunit said. “Spirit could never get past her, though not for lack of trying. Of all of Death’s agents, she’s the one he failed to defeat. He left the Mixer in that place on purpose, making a deal with the Reaper to keep it safe. You should understand that Spirit was extremely upset when he discovered the village and found out that Death had been lying about their demise. I think it was part of why he was so determined to make her suffer.”

  “Wait, so Spirit made a deal with this Reaper? The same Reaper Death put in charge of protecting the soul fae village?” I replied, struggling to wrap my head around this hidden piece of history.

  Anunit was rather amused by our befuddlement. In hindsight, Death’s subterfuges shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but alas, she was the gift that kept on giving—and not in a good way.

  “And most importantly, what Reaper was it that Spirit couldn’t best?” Unending added, raising an eyebrow.

  “We call her Joy, though she never gave us her real name,” Anunit said. “She probably knows
we could use it for a death magic spell. She’s a fox that way.”

  “Joy,” Unending repeated, lowering her gaze.

  “Does it sound familiar?” I asked her.

  “No. But given everything else Death has kept from me, I’m not surprised. I do wonder what power she has that helped her remain undefeated.”

  Anunit sighed, looking disappointed. “I’ve had my run-ins with her, as well. She is fierce. Dangerous. Destructive. I’d rather not mess with her again.”

  Suddenly it all clicked into place, like pieces of a puzzle coming together for a full and absolutely disturbing picture. “Hold on. You want us to retrieve the Mixer,” I said. “You want us to go into that village, somehow—and I say somehow because I assume it’s warded against any form of intrusion—and you want us to deal with this Joy person, then get you the Mixer. Am I getting that right?”

  “You’re a smart man,” Anunit said.

  “Before we even get to that point, let me rephrase an earlier question,” Unending interjected. “What deal did Spirit and Joy make for him to put the Mixer in her village? And why did it go south?”

  Anunit chuckled lightly. “He wooed her. He promised her the moon and the stars, and she believed him. For centuries, he stopped by once in a while, just to… you know, get all lovey and dovey with Joy, to keep her happy. At some point, I think he got busy with something else, or someone else, I don’t know. Point is, Joy was easy to scorn in that sense. By the time Spirit came back and tried to get the Mixer, she’d turned on him. I reckon Death must’ve warned her about him, but I don’t know the particulars. I do know she was too ashamed to tell Death about the Mixer being there, in the first place. She would’ve had to explain how she’d held on to it for so long, while Spirit had been plotting against Death. I figure Joy thought she’d just keep the Mixer here, hidden from Death and Spirit and anyone else, and Death would be none the wiser. Joy’s ego is gargantuan…”

  “And this is our first trial,” Unending concluded, still frowning. She clearly wasn’t sure about all this.

  Anunit shrugged. “If you want your shot at life and a kid, yeah.”

  “So, you plan to use the Mixer to meld the scythes you’ve collected into yours,” Unending said.

  “Ahem. They’d be more useful if they were combined with my own.” She revealed her own weapon—a beautiful work of metal art with an almost circular blade and a silvery handle. It glistened under the moonlight, shimmers dancing across the steel as she turned it over.

  Unending didn’t hide her concern at this demand. “You want to assume the power of those Reapers as your own? No wonder Death wants you captured…”

  “I only desire it so that I can better protect myself against her,” Anunit retorted. She seemed offended. “My whole existence revolved around my service as a Reaper until I gave hope to some of my disillusioned brethren by sending them back into the world of the living. Suddenly, I became an enemy. Frankly, I like my so-called life just the way it is, and I don’t do this kind of favor for just any Reaper. I’m not a threat to Death, but she treats me like one, so I need the Mixer because I have to protect myself from her. That’s my only reason.”

  “What will stop you from using it against innocent people?” I asked, equally untrusting.

  “Why would I use it against innocent people? Tristan, I’ve been staying under the radar for some time now. On the run. Always looking over my shoulder,” Anunit said. “I just want to be able to stop and breathe for longer than a few days in one place. That’s all.”

  Unending jabbed a finger at her. “If we do this and you hurt people with the Mixer, I will do worse things to you than Death ever would. It won’t make you stronger than I am. Hell, a thousand scythes won’t make you stronger,” she warned. “Anunit, I need your word that you won’t disappoint me.”

  The Reaper exhaled sharply. “I know better than to piss off a First Tenner. I was hiding from Spirit for a while. I know what that’s like, and I don’t need you tailing me on top of Death, thanks.” She offered me a dry smile. “Anyway, this is the deal. Take it or leave it. If you choose the latter, I hope I never see you two again, and good luck with your adoption efforts. But if you choose the former, I’ll be happy to consider you my friends and escort you both as close to the soul fae village as possible. Either way, make up your minds. I don’t have all day.”

  I would’ve liked some time to properly discuss this with Unending. She was thinking the same thing. “There are a few aspects of the whole situation that don’t quite add up,” she said through our telepathic connection. I also had a ton of questions, though I wasn’t sure if either Unending or Anunit would be able to answer them. “I don’t like being rushed into something so major…”

  “It seems like we don’t have much of a choice,” I replied. “Anunit won’t give us the time we need to investigate this properly. We’ll have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”

  “Something tells me we can’t turn back now, anyway. We need to see what Anunit is planning for her future. We have to capture and bring her back to Death, anyway. Whether she helps us with what we want or not.”

  “Yeah… so, saying yes to this first trial is still our best way forward,” I concluded, using my mind to communicate with her.

  Unending took my hands in hers and leaned closer, whispering in my ear. “It’s going to be okay, my love.”

  She had an air of confidence, of security, like she knew more than she was saying. It made me curious, but we’d been together for long enough for me to trust her with everything I had.

  One step at a time, I told myself.

  One step at a time, and Unending and I might not only get our chance at a family, we’d also get answers to my many questions about the soul fae village and Joy, the bitter and undefeated Reaper.

  Tristan

  Anunit walked with us through the jungle for a while, getting us as close as she could to the warded area of the soul fae’s village. From the outside, the jungle had seemed like any other wild place in the world, filled with rapidly growing greenery, curious animals, and the kind of humidity that made my shirt stick to my skin. But this place was different.

  The most notable peculiarity was the existence of luminescent green veins that stretched through every single leaf, no matter how small. The light pulsated as if the jungle itself had a steady heartbeat. It was alive. The branches moved slightly, like ribs expanding with each breath. The deeper we went, the brighter the emerald glow.

  “This is so weird,” I said as we followed a narrow path between the enormous trees.

  “It’s a living organism, comprised of many smaller ones,” Anunit replied, leading the way. “Don’t let the eyes scare you. It’s just how this place evolved.”

  “What eyes?” I asked.

  My answer came fairly quickly, as I spotted movement to my left. Turning my head slowly, I saw a pair peeling open on the trunk of a tree. I nearly screamed, covering my mouth as the eyes widened, settling on me. The bark lids crackled as they blinked. The irises were full and black, and they seemed to be peering right into my soul.

  Unending gently gripped my elbow and pulled me away so we could continue our journey. “They’re just watchers,” she said. “I’ve seen them before in other worlds that are likely extinct by now. Truth be told, I’ve always believed them to be the result of lingering or stray magic of some kind.”

  “Do… do they communicate with one another? The trees, I mean,” I managed.

  “I’m certain they do,” Anunit replied. “But they don’t speak to anyone or anything else. I think what happens in these woods stays in these woods.”

  At least the animals kept their distance. They had plenty of dark places to hide as we passed them by. The closer we got to the center of the jungle, the heavier my feet felt. This wasn’t exhaustion I was dealing with. We’d only been walking for a couple of hours, cautiously moving through this place to better understand it. Anunit had advised us to learn a little bit about
the terrain in case things went south with Joy and we could no longer teleport away to safety. Her guidance made sense, and I could certainly see why we needed to know our way around this jungle.

  The mossy floor was riddled with hidden ditches and holes. One wrong step, one careless move, and we could easily break an ankle or worse while fleeing for our lives. “This is as far as I can take you,” Anunit said as she stopped and turned around to face us. “I cannot risk exposing myself to Joy. Considering how badly Death wants me, I’m certain the Reaper might find a way to trap me without even leaving her precious warded area.”

  Unending let out a weary breath. “It feels different here. Like the air is skimmed.”

  “My legs are made of lead,” I added.

  “It’s probably the death magic charms that Joy sprinkled all over the jungle, especially in the village’s vicinity,” Anunit explained. “The closer you get, the harder it’ll be to move, to fight. Regular Reapers like me feel the charms more than a First Tenner like you will.”

  “I presume the living are also affected,” I said. “Based on the sensations I’m dealing with.”

  “Absolutely. But it’s okay. Joy’s purpose isn’t to kill but rather to slow down a potential enemy,” Anunit replied. “Her orders are clear. No one is to come in contact with the soul fae. No one is to even see or hear them. To make sure said orders are followed, Joy spent a few years putting together some death magic charms and traps to keep the curious explorers away. So far, it’s worked well.”

  Unending narrowed her eyes. “What can you tell us about your run-ins with her?”

  “Only that I still regret it,” she said, shaking her head slowly. “I was pretty weak by the time I reached the warded area, but I thought I could pull it off. Desperation gave me quite the push, until I realized I was absolutely no match for Joy. She’s First Tenner level, Unending. You must be careful with her. She knows more than I do, and I don’t know how much Death has taught her, so I have no idea what her limits may be.”